How to Use the Google Sheets IF OR Function (The Right Way!)
The IF OR function in Google Sheets combines the functionality of the IF and OR functions to create an IF OR statement that is fulfilled even if only one of two or more conditions are met. You can use numeric and string conditions and even combine them together as IF OR conditions to help you identify the entries that you need.
IF OR Google Sheets Syntax
The IF OR formula syntax is
=IF(OR(condition1, condition2, …), value_if_true, value_if_false)
Where
condition1 and condition2 are the conditions to fulfill, but you can set more than two conditions
value_if_true is the value displayed if one of the conditions are met
value_if_false is the value displayed if none of the conditions are met
IF OR Google Sheets Examples
IF OR with Numeric Conditions
Step 1: Identify the numeric conditions
For this example, we identify the following conditions and values to display:
condition1: 2020 census greater than 500,000
condition2: 2020 population density greater than 5,000
Value_if_true: “very high density”
Value_if_false: “high density”
As condition1 relies on data stored in column C and condition2 relies on data stored in column E, we get the following conditions (assuming row 2):
condition1: C2 > 500000
condition2: E2 > 5000
Step 2: Input the function =IF(OR(condition1, condition2, …), value_if_true, value_if_false)
For our example, the function is
=if(or(C2>500000,E2<5000),"very high density","high density")
Step 3: Press Enter.
You can extend IF OR down the column, giving you the following output:
IF OR with String Conditions
Step 1: Identify the string conditions
For this example, we identify three conditions and values to display:
condition1: city is from New York
condition2: city is from California
condition3: city is from Texas
Value_if_true: “very high population”
Value_if_false: “high population”
As these three conditions rely on data from column B, we get the following conditions:
condition1: B2 = “New York”
condition2: B2 = “California”
condition3: B2 = “Texas”
The strings should be enclosed in double quotes.
Step 2: Input the function =IF(OR(condition1, condition2, …), value_if_true, value_if_false)
The function is
=if(or(B2="New York",B2="California",B2="Texas"),"very high population","high population")
Step 3: Press Enter.
You can extend IF OR down the column, giving you the following output:
IF OR with both String and Numeric Conditions
Step 1: Identify the conditions
For this example, we identify the following conditions and values to display:
condition1: city is from California
condition2: population is more than 200,000
Value_if_true: “Major city or from CA"
Value_if_false: "Not major city or not from CA”
As condition1 relies on data stored in column B and condition2 relies on data stored in column C, we get the following conditions (assuming row 2):
condition1: B2 = “California”
condition1: C2 > 200000
The strings should be enclosed in double quotes.
Step 2: Input the function =IF(OR(condition1, condition2, …), value_if_true, value_if_false)
The function is
=if(or(B2="California",C2>200000),"Major city or from CA","Not major city or not from CA")
Step 3: Press Enter.
You can extend IF OR down the column, giving you the following output:
FAQs
How many conditions should I use?
There is ideally no limit in the number of conditions you can add, but the limits come from the conditional logic you want to implement. This puts the limit to 2-3 conditions.
Can whole conditions be stored in another cell?
No. However, you can reference other cells when defining conditions.
Can I see the sample sheet?
Related IF Functions
IF: Allows you to check for specific conditions across a dataset
SUMIF: Use to sum numbers if they meet a certain condition..
SUMIFS: Sums data from cells that meet multiple criteria
COUNTIF: count data if it fulfils certain criteria
COUNTIFS: Count data that fulfils two or more criteria.
COUNT IF Not Null: Count cells if they contain data
IFS: IFS is a more elegant way to evaluate data against multiple criteria.
IFERROR: Allows you to output values when an Error in a formula occurs
IF THEN: Allows you tor write statements that use IF X Then Y Logic
IF AND: Combines the functionality of the IF and AND functions
IF Else: Set conditions that give an output depending on whether a given condition is fulfilled or not
Multiple IF Statements: How to chain multiple statements together.
IF Contains: Returns cells that contain a particular text.
AVERAGEIF: Calculate an average for numbers within a data range if they meet the provided criteria.
